NYC Solar Summit 2010

Solar Empowerment Zones announced at NYC Solar Summit 2010

Making the transition to cleaner energy, such as solar, just got a little easier in New York City with the creation of three ‘Solar Empowerment Zones’. The initial Zones: ‘Staten Island East, ‘Downtown Brooklyn’ and ‘Greenpoint-Gateway’, were announced at the New York City Solar Summit on June 8, 2010.

Building NYC's ‘Solar Pipeline’ with a Smart Solar City Plan

Tria Case, University Director of Sustainability at CUNY, was the Chairwoman of the NYC Solar Summit. “As environmental concerns stemming from the Gulf Coast overwhelm our Nation, never has it been clearer that the United States must transition to clean energy sources,” said Case. “Through the NYC Smart Solar City project, we are building the ‘Solar Pipeline’, which includes a Solar Map and Solar Empowerment Zones that will help us make significant advances to integrating solar into this nation’s largest city and most complex grid.”

“In PlaNYC, the City’s long-term blueprint for a greener, greater New York, we set ambitious targets for upgrading the City’s aging energy infrastructure so we can stay competitive with other cities around the world,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “We also want to increase the use of renewable energy sources, including solar power. We’ve cut through the red tape that used to bog down solar projects, and there is now 3.5 megawatts of solar power installed on City rooftops, a number we want to increase significantly.”

The City University of New York, through Sustainable CUNY, annually convenes the New York City Solar Summit. During the day long event, held at John Jay College in Manhattan, the NYC Smart Solar City plan was rolled out along with preview screenshots of a NYC ‘Solar Map’. (Solar Map) The Summit also presented details on the NYC Smart Grid, solar policies and incentives and the latest in supporting technologies and battery storage. Speakers that included Congressman Maurice Hinchey, NYC Department of Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri and Councilman Daniel R. Garodnick addressed the audience of over 500 NYC solar stakeholders.

"Throughout our nation's history, New York City has always been the city that all other American cities look up to. Now, with the help of Sustainable CUNY and many other strong partners, New York City will serve as a model for innovative ways to utilize solar energy," Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) said. "If there's one thing the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has shown us, it's that our country's dependence on dirty fossil fuels is unsustainable. The swift transition to clean energy is not only inevitable; it is essential and vitally important to maintaining America's role as a leader in the global economy. With smart policies and sustained investments, we can go from importing oil from Saudi Arabia to installing solar panels from New York's Hudson Valley. This must happen and I'm confident that it will."

“As part of the initiatives released by Mayor Bloomberg to grow the City’s green economy, establishing these solar zones will help facilitate solar installations and target them where it makes most sense,” said New York City Economic Development President Seth W. Pinsky. “This will provide not only environmental benefits, but also help create green jobs in the New York City solar industry.”

Con Edison is excited to be part of the collaboration with Sustainable CUNY and the Solar America Cities team that has produced these new and innovative initiatives,” said John Mucci, VP of Manhattan Electric Operations, Con Edison. “We continue to encourage our customers to use renewable energy resources and become our smart energy-efficient partners."